Your thoughts on releasing large stripers

[JohnR]

I release 99% (or above) of my keepers. I would say that most of us (here) do.

[JackK]

I release most of my fish... I generally keep a stocked kitchen (unusual for a bachelor, I know ) and unless I know all of the meat will be used right away by myself or others I don't see the point in keeping it. Much more of a hassle to fillet it, anyway.

Now, PBs are a different story. I know that when I got my first 40 this year I had no intention of letting it go... It was just a landmark that I strove for, I knew people who were asking for fish for a BBQ, and the cup was going on. It's gotta be the hardest thing in the world for anyone to knowingly release their PB... More power in the world to you if you can do it, however.

I probably won't keep many (if any) 20-30 pounders ever again... They just don't taste as good as a 28" fish. But when (read: if) that 50 comes around, it's probably coming home with me. Donating the fillets to local food banks/ soup kitchens can also be an option with a fish like that.

RF9 raises an interesting point though. What really irks me is all of the pics I see of people holding cows straight up and down with their hands deep in their gills... with a comment that reads 'caught and released'. The damage to the gills and internal organs must be severe, and even with careful resuscitation the chance of that fish surviving have got to be really low. If you treat a fish like that once it's out of the water, you might as well just keep it.

[DZ]

Due to my age and the fact that I’ve been surf casting stripers for over 40 years I was fortunate to have been one of the initial “trail blazers” in releasing large striped bass starting in the 1980s. Before that time the only striped bass that I ever saw thrown back were sub legal size fish – everything else was kept for personal use or sold. Like Rockfish9 mentioned this was the culture of that time and EVERYONE did it.

The practice of C&R was initially started by a few handfuls of surfcasters during that crash of striped bass stocks in the 1980s. It was during this time that I first met Brad Burns (yes, the same guy from Stripers Forever). On a dark Block Island night at Southwest Bar I released a cow bass and had a guy come up to me and congratulate me for what I did – it was Brad. Come to find out Brad and his crew were also into releasing large bass and were just as passionate as I was. This was refreshing because it was in stark contrast to the general practice of that time which was to ship (re: sell) every bass you could. We got some strange looks (and a few nasty comments) from some of the crowd on the island - one pin hooker actually chased a cow I released with his gaff. Bob Pond, another passionate striped bass conservationist, was also very influential when I spoke with him during the decline. I’ve been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to live release quite a few large bass. To me it is still the most rewarding and responsible thing to do when done correctly and with care.

I have no qualms with someone keeping their personal best, but I always try and instill the large bass C&R mentality onto the new crowd – it’s hard to expect them to throw back large but I still try. I still hope that recreational fishermen here in the northeast will someday eventually “get it”. All around our country anglers have adopted the C&R mentality with regards to the largest of the species they pursue. We are the last holdouts though I’m always encouraged when I see threads like this. C&R peer pressure is good – especially on the young guys that tend to look upon some of the top pin hookers with envy. I was young once, did the same thing and know the feeling. I’ve watched some of these younger guys try and emulate them - it saddens me. C&R is not the same after you have already placed 10 other cows in the coffin,box or cooler.

Although a C&R advocate I still like to eat striped bass and for me it’s all about “selective harvest”, that is keeping a bass that is a perfect legal size for table fare, say 28” to 36”. I also still enter various special event tourneys and would even consider weighing a bass of decent size, but the tourney would have to be a charity event or at the very least, donate its proceeds to a charity/special cause/scholarship.
There you have it - my recruiting plea. Keep your personal best (if so inclined), selectively harvest fish for the table, and release the cows.

DZ

[redlite]

Oh brother, here we go again......
To each their own....
Oustide the tournament, I let 80% of the fish I catch go (most because they're too small).....I only keep em if people(family and freinds) have asked me specifically for fish, and it is not too bad of a job to get them back to the truck.
Here is a break down on my numbers so far for this year---
So far this year I have weighed in 7 fish for the Striper cup, all but 3 were in the commercial season, so they would have been taken anyway. I have kept 8 fish for the table so far. I sold I believe it was only like 20 fish this year, so I have removed about 28 fish from the biomass since the begining of April. That isn't even a bad DAY for a boat during the comm season.I keep the big ones cause they are more yield per fish. I got a 50, and I sold it. If I ever get another, you can bet yo arse its comin home and onto my wall. Do I keep the bigs ones to feed my "ego" or some other hidden human nature? I don't think so. I don't know, but I get a greater stisfaction riding along the canal after slammin fish with empty baskets and people thinking I didn't catch anything than havin 2 fish jammed into my baskets witha flat tire.

As far as tournaments and promoting killing of fish and all that crap, a quick count of the Striper Cup thus far which is the largest and longest running tournament, with approx 5000 people fishing over 5 months, from NJ to Maine, this is the count so far:
60#-6
50#-27
40#-35
30#- 233
Total 301 fish

A vast majority of those fish were commercial fish that would have been kept anyway. So please stop crying that tournaments are so wrong, and bad, and killing ALL the fish......Horse pucky.

Like I say, to each their own, but don't frown upon others that are operating within the guidelines.

[piemma]

So you guys know how hard I usually fish. Well this year a bit less but still got over 100 legal fish. I have killed two fish this year and both were gut hooked, one swallowed a pogie the other an eel. I cannot do it anymore and I have killed a lot of fish in the past. It has become too valuable of a resource to kill.

Someone on the Board has a signature that has a saying by the famous Lee Wulff. "A striper is to valuable a fish to be only caught once." Cannot be said better.

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by redlite

Oh brother, here we go again......
To each their own....
Oustide the tournament, I let 80% of the fish I catch go (most because they're too small).....I only keep em if people(family and freinds) have asked me specifically for fish, and it is not too bad of a job to get them back to the truck.
Here is a break down on my numbers so far for this year---
So far this year I have weighed in 7 fish for the Striper cup, all but 3 were in the commercial season, so they would have been taken anyway. I have kept 8 fish for the table so far. I sold I believe it was only like 20 fish this year, so I have removed about 28 fish from the biomass since the begining of April. That isn't even a bad DAY for a boat during the comm season.I keep the big ones cause they are more yield per fish. I got a 50, and I sold it. If I ever get another, you can bet yo arse its comin home and onto my wall. Do I keep the bigs ones to feed my "ego" or some other hidden human nature? I don't think so. I don't know, but I get a greater stisfaction riding along the canal after slammin fish with empty baskets and people thinking I didn't catch anything than havin 2 fish jammed into my baskets witha flat tire.

As far as tournaments and promoting killing of fish and all that crap, a quick count of the Striper Cup thus far which is the largest and longest running tournament, with approx 5000 people fishing over 5 months, from NJ to Maine, this is the count so far:
60#-6
50#-27
40#-35
30#- 233
Total 301 fish

A vast majority of those fish were commercial fish that would have been kept anyway. So please stop crying that tournaments are so wrong, and bad, and killing ALL the fish......Horse pucky.

Like I say, to each their own, but don't frown upon others that are operating within the guidelines.

Like you, I've never figured out the logic of why the OTW is a "bad" tournament, but the MV Derby is a "good" one.

And IMO the dumbest thing that the MV Derby does is award daily "mystery prizes" by the luck of the draw among all the fish weighed in that day. Guys keep 34" bass (assuming that's still the minimum weighable length) that they know won't make the daily prize board just to have a shot at the mystery prize

Daily prizes, too. How many guys keep a 25 pound fish that they know won't land them on the Grand leader board for a shot at a lousy $20 check and a pin?

But it has tradition on its side, so guys support it while railing against the Striper Cup.

[Slipknot]

Originally Posted by redlite

Oh brother, here we go again......
To each their own....
Oustide the tournament, I let 80% of the fish I catch go (most because they're too small).....I only keep em if people(family and freinds) have asked me specifically for fish, and it is not too bad of a job to get them back to the truck.
Here is a break down on my numbers so far for this year---
So far this year I have weighed in 7 fish for the Striper cup, all but 3 were in the commercial season, so they would have been taken anyway. I have kept 8 fish for the table so far. I sold I believe it was only like 20 fish this year, so I have removed about 28 fish from the biomass since the begining of April. That isn't even a bad DAY for a boat during the comm season.I keep the big ones cause they are more yield per fish. I got a 50, and I sold it. If I ever get another, you can bet yo arse its comin home and onto my wall. Do I keep the bigs ones to feed my "ego" or some other hidden human nature? I don't think so. I don't know, but I get a greater stisfaction riding along the canal after slammin fish with empty baskets and people thinking I didn't catch anything than havin 2 fish jammed into my baskets witha flat tire.

As far as tournaments and promoting killing of fish and all that crap, a quick count of the Striper Cup thus far which is the largest and longest running tournament, with approx 5000 people fishing over 5 months, from NJ to Maine, this is the count so far:
60#-6
50#-27
40#-35
30#- 233
Total 301 fish

A vast majority of those fish were commercial fish that would have been kept anyway. So please stop crying that tournaments are so wrong, and bad, and killing ALL the fish......Horse pucky.

Like I say, to each their own, but don't frown upon others that are operating within the guidelines.

Read my post again, I don't see anything where I cried that any tournaments are so wrong,and bad and killing ALL the fish... , so maybe someone else in the thread did I made a decision about if I catch a cow based on my own observations and what little i know about Bob Pond.
I don't frown upon others. I am trying to find out how we can get the word out that the bass may not be in such great sustainable numbers as the people in charge like to tell us so. That way others can make an informed decision as to whether or not they'd like to keep 2 fish or release them instead. I am not the one preaching here, I am asking others what their thoughts are. I am not blind, I see the population changing year in and year out. I'd hate to see stripers end up like cod.

I have no problem with the striper cup or the derby and do not bash them or put down one over the other. No need to defend the Cup tourney here with leader board stats. I don't have and never had a problem with commercial catching and selling of bass either.
Obviously Charters and serious shore fishermen have a much better chance at consistently catching cow bass, maybe if more people think about what happens when all those fish are removed they'd think about releasing them to be caught more than once like in that quote.
I have no problem with keeping fish for food either, I have eaten plenty of tasty fish from the sea.

"but I get a greater stisfaction riding along the canal after slammin fish with empty baskets and people thinking I didn't catch anything than havin 2 fish jammed into my baskets witha flat tire."

Me too Mike